“... shunning all offers of help, all offers of the more practical... This was his task, he said, and it would be carried out alone. Penance, my brother reminded me, was a lonely place to be.”

“The task of teaching has never been more complex and the expectations that burden teachers are carried out in antiquated systems that offer little support—and yet, teachers are finding success every day.”

“The lonely one offers his hand too quickly to whomever he encounters.”

“This is a completely heterosexual bro-hug that I offer in a totally nongay way to all my hockey brothers.”

“I nudged my head into his shoulder. "Thanks for offering to come over.""you realize that trying to keep your distance from me will not lessen my affection for you," he said."i guess?" i said."all efforts to save me from you will fail," he said.”

“I looked at her, wanting her with all the lust of my months alone and untouched. But I knew also that for that deeper hunger for companionship and understanding, she offered me no more solace than any man might find in his own hand.”